You all know me and my knack for making villains less evil. So, I present to you the story of the Mosquito Brothers.
The Mosquito Brothers
Full summary/background information:
Before they were the 'Mosquito Brothers', they were called the 'Mosquito Runts'. They made up the last three larva of a family of mosquitoes that already had 7,000 too many mosquitoes in it. They were looked down upon by their fellow mosquitoes and bullied by other young bugs. Veeto and Neato were the twins; they constantly fought for leadership amongst their little group. They were strikingly similar in personality; so similar that is led to many a fight between the two. They were both slightly nerdy and intelligent, though they learned the hard way that showing it led to disaster. Sweetheart was named because, seeing as she was the last child and burst out early, everyone expected her to be weak. It was quickly proven that this assumption was wrong; Sweetheart turned out to be tougher and manlier than any of the other mosquitoes. It was her size and the sheer irony of her name that made her a target for the same teasing and shoving that the other two endured. They faced oppression and bullying and were pushed around for the longest time by the bugs who were supposed to love them. So when they had a chance at revenge, why would they turn it down?
Veeto Mosquito's POV
Veeto woke up early that day. Of course he woke up early; today was the day of the family reunion, which meant he, Neato and Sweetheart would be getting lost for a few hours to avoid the humiliation and teasing of all of his relatives. He was lucky if he could get through a single day without being laughed at by his siblings. But all his cousins and uncles and aunts? It would be suicide to stick around.
He flew out of his nest and into his brother's. Neato was also awake and looked agitated. "It's about time you woke up," his brother snapped. "I've been up for hours."
"Excuse me for wanting some sleep," Veeto retorted. "Let's go wake up Sweetheart. Then we can decide where we want to go when our relatives get here."
"It's your turn to wake her up," Neato argued. "I did it last time."
Waking Sweetheart up was a dangerous task that usually involved severe injuries to the head. If she kept sleeping, though, one of their siblings would come up and use less diplomatic tactics for getting her up. So, Veeto swallowed the lump in his throat and flew into Sweetheart's nest. To his surprise, Sweetheart was already awake.
"How long have you been up?" Veeto asked.
"Awhile," Sweetheart answered. She was a mosquito of few words.
"Was I the last one to wake up?" Veeto buzzed angrily.
Neato flew into Sweetheart's nest and nodded. Veeto glared at his brother. "I am so tempted to hit you right now," Veeto snarled.
"Then come and get me," Neato taunted.
Veeto flew forward to hit Neato.
"ENOUGH!" Sweetheart roared, swooping in between them.
Veeto glared at his sister, but backed down. "Sweetheart's right. We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves when the enemy is down there." Veeto gestured to the nests below theirs where their millions of older siblings lived.
"Speaking of our awful relatives, where are we going today?" Neato asked.
Veeto shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think we've been everywhere in the Hive."
"Why don't we go outside the Hive," Sweetheart suggested.
Neato and Veeto stared at their sister. Not just because she had said more than two words in a sentence, but because the idea was completely insane. They weren't allowed to go outside the Hive!
"We could get in trouble!" Neato exclaimed.
"Maybe if we get in trouble, other bugs will think that we're tough!" Veeto argued. "Maybe they'd stop pushing us around."
"Mom will kill us!" Neato insisted.
"Who needs her?" Veeto asked. "She already hates us anyway!"
"Hmm…" Veeto could tell that his brother really wanted to do it. He wanted to prove to everyone that they were tough enough to leave the Hive. "Alright. Let's do it."
Veeto grinned. This is going to be totally awesome.
His victorious thoughts were ruined when he heard one of his siblings, Leato, shouted, "hey, maggots, get your hairy butts down here! It's time to eat."
"Who wants to bet that all the blood is gone already?" Veeto asked glumly.
"Me," Neato and Sweetheart said at the same time.
"Well, let's get going and hope that there's still some blood left in the mammal that Mom dragged in," Veeto muttered. "Then we can leave."
~*~ Time Skip ~*~
Veeto was beginning to regret leaving the Hive. The rocky world outside of the Hive was strange and foreign to him. The biggest problem was that it was too quiet. He could hear every little noise, and they all frightened him. Sweetheart was enjoying herself, though.
"Hey, guys, come look at this hole!" Sweetheart shouted. "This hole is ten times cooler than our nests." Sweetheart began to fly down the hole.
"Hey!" Veeto swerved in front of her. "We don't know what kind of bug could be down there!"
"Oh, come on Veeto!" Neato encouraged. "It was your idea to come out here in the first place. Where's your sense of adventure?"
"Back in the Hive where the rest of me should be," Veeto snapped.
"Ha! The Hive? The Hive seems a bit below the likes of three fine mosquitoes such as yourselves." A voice drifted out of no where
Veeto jumped. "Where did that voice come from?"
Neato frowned. "I think it came from the hole."
"Yes. It did." Veeto heard the voice again. "It's a very nice hole down here. Why don't you come inside?"
Veeto's curiosity got the better of him, and he flew into the hole. It was dark inside, and he could barely make out anything. He could hear Neato and Sweetheart flying behind him and Neato nudged him forward.
"Go, you scardey-ant," Neato hissed.
Veeto flew forward. He couldn't stop shaking, though. The fear had crawled into his stomach and refused to leave. Then he saw what was making the noise: a giant scorpion. Veeto almost flew out screaming like a little ladybug. Almost.
"Hello. My name's Pincer," the scorpion introduced himself. "And what might your names be?"
"I'm Veeto," Veeto said, unable to keep the awe out of his voice. Pincer was huge! He could probably do whatever he wanted without getting in trouble. "This is my brother, Neato, and our sister, Sweetheart."
"Mosquito brothers, I see," Pincer murmured.
Neato scoffed. "More like the Mosquito Runts."
"Shh!" Veeto hissed. There was no reason for Pincer to know about that.
Pincer, however, had already heard. "The Mosquito Runts? Tell me more."
"The other bugs always pick on us," Veeto explained quietly.
"Why? A couple bloodsuckers like you should be ruling the Hive, if you ask me," Pincer argued.
"You think so?" Veeto asked doubtfully.
"Yes, of course!" Pincer exclaimed. "You need to act like it, though. You shouldn't take shit from anyone."
Neato gasped. "We're not supposed to say words like that."
"Who said so?" Pincer asked.
"Mom," Neato mumbled.
"And what gives her the authority to tell you what to do?" Pincer demanded.
"She's our mom –" Veeto began.
"So?" Pincer interrupted. "You shouldn't listen to bugs who are just going to let you down in the end!"
"Do you listen to anybody?" Veeto pressed.
"No," Pincer stated proudly. "Not even the Overqueen. She tried to give me nourishment as my job. That's why I left the Hive. And because eating the brains of humans is generally frowned upon."
"Humans?" Neato echoed.
"They're a certain breed of mammal," Pincer explained. "That's not the point, though. You guys should probably go back to the Hive now, but come out here again when you have more time, and I'll explain myself in greater detail. Who knows? I may even be able to help you guys with your bully problem."
The three mosquitoes flew out of the hole. Neato looked doubtfully at Veeto. "Are we going to go back?"
"I'm not sure," Veeto admitted. "I do –"
"Hey, Mom! I found them!" Veeto's sentence was interrupted by Leato's screeching.
To Veeto's dismay, Leato and their mom flew towards them. "WHERE WERE YOU?" their mom exclaimed. "YOU'RE MISSING OUR FAMILY REUNION! COME ON, YOU STUPID MOSQUITO RUNTS!"
Neato and Sweetheart sighed in unison. Anger boiled inside Veeto as he reflected on Pincer's words and listened to his mother yell at them. "You're wrong," he said quietly, trying to keep his voice level.
His mom turned around. "What did you say?"
"You're wrong," Veeto repeated. "We're not the Mosquito Runts. We're the Mosquito Brothers."
